Before Terrifier, Art The Clown Haunted A Low-Budget Horror Movie You Never Saw

The slasher remains one of horror’s most popular subgenres. Still, so many of those projects are one-and-done films, ultra-low-budget stuff that doesn’t break through, or reboots/retoolings of old favorites. We’re often stuck with more “Halloween” or more “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” to cite a couple of recent examples. Or we’re left to hope for the rarity that was “In a Violent Nature,” which has a real shot at turning its protagonist, Johnny, into a new genre staple. All of this to say, it’s tough to create a new icon in the slasher realm. 

Unquestionably, though, if one new icon has emerged in recent years, it is Art the Clown from the “Terrifier” series.

Originally played by Mike Giannelli and made famous by David Howard Thornton, Art has transcended the films he’s been a part of. In the aftermath of the surprise success of 2022’s “Terrifier 2,” the killer clown became a staple in horror. From Halloween costumes to untold amounts of merch with Art’s face on it, we’re looking at a true-blue modern slasher star. But this didn’t happen overnight, and the character’s journey from inception to where he is now is unconventional to say the least.

Art’s first feature-length cinematic foray was back in 2013, with the clown taking center stage in the horror anthology film “All Hallows’ Eve.” Marking the feature directorial debut of Damien Leone, this is the first time audiences had the chance to see what Art was capable of, but it would be nearly a decade before fame caught up to Leone’s creation. With “Terrifier 3” just around the corner, it’s worth looking back at Art’s low-budget on-screen origins.

Art the Clown first appeared in Leone’s short film “The 9th Circle,” playing a relatively small part in a monster-filled Satanic ritual. The filmmaker later made a different short titled “Terrifier” that was fully focused on Art. That is basically where “All Hallows’ Eve” begins, as producer Jesse Baget saw the potential that existed within that short. Leone didn’t plan to make an anthology film, but that was the opportunity that presented itself. In a 2013 interview with Dread Central, the director explained:

“My intention wasn’t to make an anthology film. We still intend on making a full-length stand alone Art the Clown movie. This was just a reason to get ‘Terrifier’ onto DVD and whip it into a feature just to get it out there to get more people familiar with Art the Clown and hopefully get a little bit more of a fanbase.”

2013 was a different time, and home video could still have a bigger impact. Instead of getting another filmmaker, Baget let Leone take on the entire anthology himself. They used both of the previous Art-related short films, as well as a new one that makes up the second segment in the anthology. It was all directed by Leone, and it was all about getting Art more exposure.

“All Hallows’ Eve” takes place on Halloween night and centers on a brother and sister who wind up with a mysterious VHS tape in their candy bags. Their babysitter is reluctant to play it, but they watch it anyway. What they see on the tape are the various shorts Leone made, with the “Terrifier” short serving as the big finale. It’s the first true taste audiences get of Art’s maniacally brutal and unforgiving style of carnage. The short ends with — spoiler alert for “All Hallows’ Eve” – a woman having all of her limbs cut off, with our killer carving quite a few unflattering words into her body. The wraparound segment for the anthology ends with Art killing the kids who discovered the tape — and we see it all.

Many people probably came to this franchise when “Terrifier 2” came out, as it was one of the more surprising box office hits of 2022. So, is this anthology something worth seeking out? That kind of depends. To my eye, “All Hallows’ Eve” very much shows the signs of its low-budget nature. It was a cheaply-made movie using two already-finished shorts, making for a minimal investment and a chance for a quick profit. It at least made enough money to warrant a sequel; “All Hallows’ Eve 2” was released in 2015, albeit without Leone as a director. “All Hallows’ Eve” is readily available on streaming, VOD, and for those inclined, on Blu-ray via Amazon. 

The film itself is kind of rough. The found footage framing device makes little to no sense. Then again, lots of stuff in the “Terrifier” franchise doesn’t make a lot of sense if you think about it too much. Watching this in a vacuum, one wouldn’t think much of it. Even so, Art stands out. Something about him makes one’s eyebrow curl upward. It strikes at the heart of that morbid curiosity that makes horror fans obsess over the slashers themselves, rather than the victims.

One of the biggest things that holds the anthology back is the middle segment, which is the one Leone filmed specifically for the feature. It involves a very cheap-looking alien attacking a woman in a secluded house, with Art only appearing in a painting. In a 2013 interview with Fangoria, Leone explained he wanted to save Art for the big finale:

“A lot of people ask me why we didn’t do another Art the Clown story, and I felt if I gave people another 15 or 20 minutes of him killing someone, it would take away from the impact of ‘Terrifier.'”

“He was never really intended to be a lead villain,” Leone added in that same interview. Be that as it may, the filmmaker recognized the potential within this killer clown. “He’s obviously the best part of the short; everybody kept talking about him. That’s why we went and made ‘Terrifier’ a couple of years later.”

To use a metaphor from popular music, it’s kind of like this: “All Hallows’ Eve” is the EP that gets a band a record deal. In this case, let’s use Nirvana as an example. “Terrifier” is Nirvana’s “Bleach,” showing what the band is capable of. That brings us to “Terrifier 2,” which is Nirvana’s breakthrough chart-topping hit “Nevermind.” And much in the way that album made Kurt Cobain an icon of grunge, Art the Clown is now an icon of modern horror.